Age of Mythology: Retold

1. Summary

Reviewers who played the original Age of Mythology describe Retold as the remake they had hoped for. They write about playing it as children, about a rebuild that keeps the old feel while adding modern visuals and quality-of-life changes, about the original campaigns sitting next to new ones, and about the Chinese, Japanese and Aztec pantheons added since, which some say make it closer to a sequel. Players new to the series, and people who call themselves bad at RTS games, also report having a good time, often crediting the automated villagers and adjustable AI.

Technical trouble is the main reason people vote no: 28% of negative reviews mention crashes, launch failures, multiplayer desyncs or bugs. Negative reviews also complain about monetization, mostly anger that the Premium Edition did not include the later Expansion Pass and that blood and corpse effects were sold as a pack. Players who recommend the game raise their own complaints too, chiefly the new campaign voice acting, the redrawn god portraits and unit pathing. The loudest dissent comes from players of the original who dislike what changed and from multiplayer players unhappy with balance and updates.

2. What keeps coming up

What players praise

A faithful remake that brings the original backHigh

Nostalgia runs through the reviews: 24% of the longer reviews talk about childhood, growing up with the game, or playing the CD version, and short reviews say the same in a line or two. What those players value is that Retold keeps the feel of the original. One short review opens "How to remaster should be done." and goes on to say the core gameplay stays true to the original, and 14% of the longer reviews explicitly call it faithful or a remake done right. Players who skipped the original, including people coming from Age of Empires II, StarCraft or Warcraft, also say it works for them.

Not every veteran agrees. Some original players say the "soul" is gone or prefer the Extended Edition, and point to the voices, portraits and UI (covered below). Others make the opposite complaint, that it is the same old game with better graphics.

Campaigns, old and newHigh

The campaign comes up in 30% of the longer reviews, and most of those mentions are praise. Some players rank the Fall of the Trident campaign among the best RTS campaigns they have played, and several are glad the remade Chinese campaign replaced the Extended Edition version, though a few still found the new one short or weak. The newer DLC campaigns draw warm reviews as well: one player wrote that "The three new campaigns (modern DLCs) capture everything that made the originals great while introducing fresh, inspired mission design." Playing the campaign in co-op, often through a community mod, is another highlight.

The criticism in this theme is about specific content. Players split on the Obsidian Mirror campaign (below), a few miss the Tale of the Dragon campaign and the original intro cinematic, and some found the campaign AI punishing on higher difficulties.

New pantheons and steady new contentHigh

The Chinese, Japanese or Aztec pantheons, or the new gods, come up in 14% of the longer reviews, usually with enthusiasm. Players describe the factions as distinct and well made, and some say the amount of added content makes Retold feel like a new game: "With all of the new expansions and reworks, Retold is essentially Age of Mythology 2". Reviewers ask for more pantheons (Celtic, Hindu, Mesopotamian and others) and credit the developers for continued updates and for listening to the community.

That same content causes friction. Some purists dislike mixing new cultures into AoM, and multiplayer players argue the new gods are overtuned (see balance).

Rebuilt visualsHigh

Graphics come up in 30% of the longer reviews, mostly as praise for the new unit models, myth creatures, water and effects, and for good performance on modest hardware and Steam Deck. That praise is for the 3D world. The art around it (god portraits, UI) is contested, and a handful of players say the extra detail makes battles harder to read.

Quality-of-life changes and reusable god powersMedium

Auto-queued villagers, villager priorities, more hotkeys, manual ability casting and reusable god powers (paid for with favor) are the changes players list when they explain why Retold beats the original. One player described the villager AI as "perfect for those of us with the micromanagement skills of a toddler", and another liked that god powers "can be used multiple times now, before i would just hoard them for later and never use them". A few veterans dislike the automation or the recastable powers, and some found the accessibility settings intrusive by default.

Music, mods and playing with friendsMedium

The soundtrack draws steady praise, and players use the built-in mod browser for co-op campaigns, the original voice lines and custom maps. Some reviews describe the game as a regular co-op or skirmish night with a partner, child, sibling or friends.

Controller and handheld supportLow

A small group of reviews praise controller support and Steam Deck play, though a few Linux and Deck players report problems with fullscreen or launching.

Where players are split

Balance and multiplayerMedium

Balance comes up often, and opinions run both ways. Some players think the rebalanced gods and techs are an improvement (one short review reads, in full, "Extremly well balanced"), and some say the mid and late game matter more than in the Extended Edition. Multiplayer-focused players push back hard: they call the DLC gods (Aztecs and Japanese especially) overpowered, call new paid gods pay-to-win, and say balance patches come too slowly. Ranked players also complain about matchmaking with a small player base: "Unfortunatly the player-base is so low, that the ELO-system dosent do much in ranked."

Skirmish and campaign AIMedium

Some players say the AI is a real improvement: "Finally a remastered game with the intention of making a difficult AI to beat." Others call it a cheater that knows where your town center is and floods you with units, or say it behaves differently as an enemy and as an ally: "It's both ridiculously good (when you're against it) or incredibly incompetent (when it's your ally)." Naval maps and AI allies draw specific complaints.

Gauntlet, Arena of the Gods and daily challengesMedium

For some players, the roguelite Gauntlet and Arena of the Gods modes and the daily and weekly challenges are a reason to keep coming back after the campaigns. Others find them repetitive, and they object that these modes need an online connection even when played alone: "if you get disconnected you lose a life and wipe those hours of progress."

The Obsidian Mirror campaignLow

The Aztec campaign divides the few who mention it. One player called it "the best AoM campaign to date", while another, who recommends the game, said "the campaign is a lot of waiting for a timer to run out" and found it unimaginative.

What frustrates players

Crashes, launch failures and multiplayer desyncsHigh

No other complaint appears in as many negative reviews: 28% of them mention crashes, a game that will not launch, desyncs or disconnects, or general bugs, against 18% of the longer reviews overall. Reported launch failures include a hang on the splash screen and D3D12 or resource-binding errors. Multiplayer players describe matches ending in "out of sync" errors; one wrote, "It kicks me out of 100% of multiplayer games." These complaints are concentrated in reviews from 2024, around launch. Some players changed their reviews back to positive after fixes, but others say new updates bring new bugs. Smaller technical complaints include Bluetooth headsets breaking audio, no lock-cursor option, and fullscreen and window-position problems.

Campaign voice actingHigh

Complaints about the redone campaign voices come from players who recommend the game as well as from those who don't. 12% of the longer reviews mention the voice acting, mostly unfavorably: players call the new lines flat or childish and miss the original cast. "But the voice acting, felt childish, the original voice acting was much better delivered." Players point to a mod that restores the old voices and ask for an official option. Some players say they like the new voices.

DLC pricing and the Premium EditionMedium

Monetization complaints appear in 11% of negative reviews and 8% of the longer reviews, and the grievances are specific. Premium Edition buyers say they expected all future DLC and then had to buy a separate Expansion Pass: "I purchased Premium before launch under the expectation of getting all the DLCs. This was a lie." Players say the Blood and Bones pack sells blood and corpse effects the original had for free, and that it is only sold inside the Expansion Pass. They also say Freyr is tied to Premium, with some unable to unlock him even after buying the DLC separately, and that the original god portraits cost extra. Players who defend the DLC say the new pantheons are substantial: "compared to Paradox, this isn't just adding a button to the UI for 10 bucks." Others like the game but balk at the cost: "Good remaster, DLC prices are wild though."

God portraits, art direction and UIMedium

The redrawn god portraits draw repeated complaints that they look AI-generated, and selling the classic portraits as DLC adds to the irritation: "They replaced the original god portraits with hideous overly rendered AI art and then charged $8 to put the original portraits back in as DLC." Players also call the new UI less charming or harder to read than the original's. Some like the new look, and others say it is a matter of taste.

Pathing, attack-move and unit controlMedium

Players who micro their armies complain that units take odd routes, get stuck, chase targets out of position or attack walls instead of enemy units. Attack-move gets its own complaints: "Attack move is a basic since 20 years but it doesn't work here." Transport ships failing to unload is a recurring bug report. Some players say pathing improved after patches.

Missing pieces from the originalLow

A few players miss the Tale of the Dragon campaign, the original intro cinematic, LAN play, some cut story scenes, and the option to win with a wonder.

3. The player conversation

The tone is warm and personal. Most positive reviews are short, and a common subject is having the game from childhood back, sometimes to play with a partner or their own kids. The longer reviews are more mixed: some positive ones carry caveats about the voice acting, portraits and DLC.

Different groups raise different things. New buyers who cannot get past the splash screen and multiplayer players hit by desyncs write the angriest reviews. Competitive players focus on balance, matchmaking and new gods. Campaign and skirmish players talk about the story, the AI and the voices. Players of the original object to the art, the UI and the changes to god powers, changes that newcomers rarely mention.

The subject of the complaints shifted over time. Negative reviews written in 2024, around launch, dwell on desyncs, crashes and pathing, and several players later edited those reviews to positive once patches landed. In negative reviews from 2026, monetization comes up more often than technical problems, especially the Expansion Pass being sold separately from the Premium Edition and the Blood and Bones pack, and some long-time owners changed their reviews to negative over it. Some reviews come from players who joined through a free weekend.

4. What the developers could do

1. Fix launch failures, crashes and multiplayer desyncs first. Technical problems appear in more negative reviews than any other complaint, from splash-screen hangs and D3D12 errors to matches ending "out of sync".
2. Make every DLC purchasable on its own and label exactly what the Premium Edition includes. Premium buyers who later had to pay for the Expansion Pass, Blood and Bones and Freyr are behind much of the monetization anger, and some say content stayed locked even after they bought the separate DLC.
3. Add an official option for the original campaign voice acting. Players who recommend the game still complain about the new voices, and some already install a mod to restore the old ones.
4. Include the classic god portraits as a free toggle. Players who dislike the new AI-looking portraits resent paying to get the originals back.
5. Fix attack-move, pathing and transport unloading. Players say basic unit commands still misbehave, in the campaign and in multiplayer.
6. Let single-player modes run offline, or stop a dropped connection from costing a Gauntlet life. Players with unstable internet say they lose hours of progress in modes they play alone.
7. Tune the overpowered DLC gods faster and improve ranked matching. Multiplayer reviewers tie balance swings to paid pantheons and say the small ranked population produces lopsided matches.